Wednesday, December 1, 2010

CLOSED. Interview and Giveaway: Salvaged Love

This giveaway is now closed. Please stay tuned for our next interview and giveaway beginning Friday, December 10th. Thank you to everyone who entered! Winner announcement coming later today.

This week we're excited to share with you another great shop with a great name. And even better, this gal is representing the great state of VA (my home!) I fell in love with her items one day while "pounce"-ing on Etsy, and I know you will too.

Meet Claire, Designer and Owner of Salvaged Love

--What does your life outside of Etsy/blogging look like?

I live in Richmond, Virginia, where I work in the stationery world by day and the craft world by night. (Hmm, that kind of makes me sound like a superhero…except I can’t fly.) I have a boyfriend whom I adore (and who cooks for me), the best cats ever, and interesting friends. I am a vegetarian. I love going to thrift stores, yard sales and flea markets…especially when I travel, which I also love to do every chance I get. I am happiest when I am making things.

--Describe yourself (or ask someone else to do it!) in three words.

I had come up with perfectionist & scavenger and was feeling stuck, when I decided to ask my boyfriend, David, what he would choose. He decided on meticulous, collector & delicate. Hmm…not too far off. Interesting. I think I like his choices better, although my third word would probably not be ‘delicate.’ Maybe…organizer?

--Fall piece you can’t live without:

My black leather Frye boots…paired with skinny jeans, they are a staple of my wardrobe.

--Most recent fashion-related purchase:

My most recent purchase that I ended up having to return was a pair of leopard print kitten heels with a pointed toe that looked like they walked right off the set of Mad Men. I had ordered them online, which is how I love to buy shoes. Unfortunately, they were NOT comfortable and had to go back. The most recent purchase that I have kept is a ruffly fringy gray SUPER soft knit scarf bought at a street fair in New York for $8. I have been wearing it nonstop since the weather turned cool.

--Do you craft/make anything else outside of what’s in your shop?

I do collage work, using mostly paper, but other things as well. Like my jewelry, mostly repurposed and scavenged scraps. I get a lot of my supplies from work, where we like to joke about how green we are because I take home so much stuff that would otherwise be thrown away (and I have been known to dig things out of the trash). Recent pieces I’ve done have included several custom backdrops for taxidermied birds and multiple pieces for a digital art project called Yet Another Roadside Attraction.

I have loved and collected vintage jewelry for a long time, as well as all kinds of other found odds and ends…it’s hard for me to pass up anything shiny on the sidewalk. And I began to design jewelry when I studied Metalsmithing in college. I would make and alter pieces for myself using things from my collections. The combination of my two interests, collecting and designing, has evolved into the Salvaged Love style - modern designs using primarily vintage and repurposed materials. This past spring, I decided spur of the moment to do my first craft show in New York with a friend and sold some pieces. That really gave me the push to start actively developing my jewelry line, and Etsy seemed like the ideal place to begin showing my work on the web.

--Significance of your shop name?

Salvaged refers to the salvaged nature of many of my materials, and Love, well…I love what I make! The phrase is also a bit of an homage to Savage Love, the advice column by Dan Savage.

--Favorite item in your shop right now (link us!)

I love this bright blue necklace. If I were a superhero, this is what I would wear.

I hearted your Etsy Miskabelle Shop (I'm Salleefur) and I can't believe I've never been there before: What a great shop! I think I almost missed the deadline to enter this giveaway - I was so busy browsing and e-window shopping.

I LOVE ALL of the vantage cross-body and shoulder bags (hearted quite a few of them) and laughed when I save the Vintage Fuschia '80's Heels (I used to have a whole closet full of those in vasrious colors! My toes ache just looking at them!

I especially love the "Vintage Turquoise A-Line Belted Button Down Shirt Dress" - that's such a flattering and classic style - and the color(s) are fabulous!

My programmer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.I have always disliked the idea because of the costs.But he's tryiong none the less. I've been using WordPress on numerous websites for about a year and am nervous about switching to another platform.

I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it? Any help would be really appreciated!